


Thoughts to a Friend

by DivineNoodles



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: "Man what a bunch of jokers" - Tomoe Udagawa, Crushes, F/F, Fluff, Maya gushes a lot of fantasy technical jargon and Eve listens with intent interest, No Spoilers, Pre-Relationship, Xenoblade Chronicles AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivineNoodles/pseuds/DivineNoodles
Summary: After spending all day cooped up in the lab, Maya is trying (and failing) to get some fresh air when Eve comes by.
Relationships: Wakamiya Eve/Yamato Maya
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	Thoughts to a Friend

**Author's Note:**

> My brainworms have taken over
> 
> [Recommended Listening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKgfCmMuck0)

The sky was incomprehensibly vast. 

The bright blue firmament shone down upon the lakebed colony, refracting over the water’s edge far below. Dragonflies danced in the warm afternoon sun. Beetles squirmed over low-hung hydrangeas The only sound came from the wind that swept through the dew-laden grass, rippling among the cliff faces and high-cannons. It was an arcadian image, so beautifully crisp that a mere glance would make one lean back and let the air out of their lungs as they took it all in.

Maya, of course, wasn’t taking any of it in

“Mechon armor possesses a high durability, but isn’t known to emit ether energy in any capacity. The ineffectiveness of Homs weaponry against such armor is likely due to the density of the material far surpassing that of any metal we can get our hands on. But…”

She muttered quietly to herself, looking back and forth between the array of research notes she’d splayed out all around the park bench. Masuki had told her to get out of the lab to clear her head, but she was too caught up in her thoughts to imagine anything but the one subject she’d been studying for who knows how long.

“The Monado… it outputs ether energy of a type and wavelength we have yet to identify. If its abilities were simply limited to cutting through Mechon armor that would be one thing, yet it also possesses the capability to grant such piercing abilities to other weapons in its vicinity. And it may hold even greater power than that, going by the unexplored elements of her design. What secrets does it hold…?”

She slumped against the bench, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back to face the sky. Why had she brought all her work out here again…? She was supposed to be taking a break, not going harder at the same walls she’d been bashing her head against for ages. The more pressure she put on herself to figure things out, the more she’d end up feeling lost and frustrated. But how was she supposed to just let this all slide when it was such a pressing issue?

Something flat and cold pressed against her forehead.

“Aagh!”

She startledly sat up, her foot jerking to kick some of her research notes aside. Her hand reached up to her forehead only to feel slightly chilled skin as a giggle rang out behind her. “Are you having a nice nap?”

Feeling a small rush of blood to her cheeks, Maya pivoted her spine. “E-Eve… you didn’t need to sneak up on me like that.”

Eve continued smiling as she circled the bench and sat next to Maya, thermos and lunchbox in hand. “Are you sure? You’re always sneaking up on the local Bunnits from behind before slashing them.”

“H-Huhehe.” At least Maya was able to laugh. “I guess I don’t do well with direct confrontation, whether it’s people or monsters…”

“That’s okay!” Eve gave Maya a reassuring thump on the back. “You’ve got Tomoe looking out for you! And since she’s loud, she always attracts more attention!”

Coming from anybody else that would be an incredible burn, but knowing Eve she meant it purely and simply. Not that Maya was ready to dispute her. “You’re right… I should thank her for always sticking her neck out for me.”

Eve began unpacking the lunchbox. “Let’s tell her together later!”

Maya nodded. “R-Right!”

Eve handed Maya a sandwich, which she took a bite out of as her eyes fell upon a diagram of the Monado just centimeters away from her foot. The smooth, rounded edges of its frame were alluring even on paper… with just a look at the monochrome sketch she could see the solid red material and pulsing blue lines in her mind, an indicator of something artificial and yet organic, tangible yet beyond knowledge. What was it made of? Where did it come from? What powers did it hold? The more she studied, the more problems she came up with...

“How is it?”

Maya blinked as she barely processed Eve’s question. “Oh, it’s…” She chewed through the savory mixture of bread, honey, and other flavors she couldn’t describe. “I-It’s amazing!”

Eve prodded her in the arm playfully. “You say that every day, though.”

“B-But it’s true!” Maya said, gulping it down. “I mean, it’s always great, but today it’s absolutely incredible.”

“Really? I’m glad!” Eve’s eyes shone as she kicked her feet out onto the dirt. “I searched high and low for some special herbs and spices I could use! I was at the market yesterday, you see…”

Eve continued talking about her shopping trip with the utmost enthusiasm. Maya nodded along she kept eating, but her mind wandered off again towards her research. She didn’t have the time for mundane small talk… even with Eve. She had to focus. Right? There was no telling when the Mechon would attack again, after all…

“...so that’s why I know if you had said it was the same as always then you’d have no sense of taste!”

Maya caught only the end of the sentence. “Wha?”

She expected Eve to roll her eyes and shake her head, but instead she just rested her cheeks on her hands as she smiled, her wrists just peeking out of her long white sleeves. “Head in the clouds again?”

Maya didn’t like lying--not that she was good at it in the first place. “Yeah. I’m a little distracted right now…”

“Thinking about the Monado?” Eve bent down to pick up a sheet of Maya’s notes. “You spend a lot of time in the lab these days.”

Maya nodded. “I’ve only grown more restless over time. After last year, when…”

She trailed off as Eve’s gaze tracked towards the distance. Neither of them like thinking about what had happened back then.

“Um…” Maya cleared her throat. “How’s Kaoru?”

“She’s doing better,” Eve replied, her voice quieter but unwavering. “She encouraged me to come here and look after you, actually.”

Maya sighed, a small smirk crossing onto her face. “Even when injured, she looks out for other people… she’s amazing. No wonder they call her a hero.”

“Truly.” Eve clasped her hands over her heart. “I hope I can pick up the sword in her absence.”

_ “The  _ sword?” asked Maya. “Y-You’re not talking about the Monado, are you?”

“Why not?” asked Eve, her eyes flaring with determination. “If she wielded it, then I’ll gladly pick it up and carry on her legacy!”

Spoken like a true sister… although the way she talked made it sound like Kaoru was dead rather than debilitated. “Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The Monado can’t be wielded by just anyone.”

The fire in Eve’s expression softened. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Maya stuffed the last of her sandwich into her mouth, hastily swallowing through it as she picked up her scattered notes. “It takes an exceptional amount of strength to use. If you’re not as experienced or tenacious as Kaoru, then it’ll just incapacitate you immediately.”

“Why is that?” asked Eve, leaning over with curious eyes.

“Well, I think it has to do with the type of energy it emits,” Maya replied, facing her. “When it’s activated it emits an incredibly powerful surge of ether, which I theorize is the reason that it’s able to cut through Mechon armor so easily. However, that same surge also wreaks havoc on the wielder… that’s why Kaoru can’t use her right arm anymore.”

“I see, I see…”

“But!” Maya’s hands excitedly clenched around the paper in her hands. “At the same time, the Monado can’t cut Homs or other sentient Bionis-based lifeforms! Which means that whatever type of ether the blade is outputting is different from the kind transmitted throughout the body of the wielder. Which isn’t even getting into whatever energy it uses when the symbols appear.”

“Symbols?”

“On the circular mid-section!” Maya thrust the Monado diagram out towards Eve. “It can be activated to either enhance the weapons of others to also cut through Mechon armor, or alternatively cause the blade to grow in size and power… and there may be more symbols that can appear! But are they due to the type of ether the blade is channelling, or something else entirely? How can we make--”

It was only now that she realized she was in full-on ramble mode. She sheepishly retracted her notes and adjusted her glasses. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go on like that, huhehe…”

“No, please, continue!” Eve’s voice was clear and enthused. “You always look so happy talking about these topics.”

Maya rubbed the back of her head. “B-But I’m being annoying, right?”

“Not at all! You’re so passionate it’s infectious.” Eve picked up one last stray paper hiding under the bench, looking over the chicken scratch notes. “It’s clear that machines are your favorite thing in the world.”

Maya’s eyes peeked over to look at Eve’s face, bright and cherubic and loving. She felt her feet squirm into the dirt as her heart pitter-pattered just a little. “M-Maybe not my absolute favorite...”

“Are you sure?” asked Eve. “I feel like you would pay more attention to me if  _ I _ were a machine.”

Maya swallowed her lungs. “Wha-? That’s not true!! I, I, I…!”

Eve laughed. “I’m teasing! It’s all right!” She lay the sheet in Maya’s lap and ruffled her messy brown hair. “You do more than enough for me. I’m very grateful.”

“I-I don’t know about that.” Maya shuffled the papers together, attempting to smoothen out their creased and crumpled corners. “I feel like you’re always consoling me and listening to my babble and even making me food. What do I do for you?”

“You’re so wonderfully kind, Maya,” said Eve without a moment’s hesitation. “Remember when Kaoru and I had that argument when we were kids? I ran to your house crying, and you stayed with me the whole night.”

“Well, sure…” Maya shrugged. “You were feeling down. I wanted to help out.”

“And you did! That’s exactly what I mean.” Eve shifted to rest against the bench’s back. “You have to learn to give yourself credit for things like that. And for all the research you do! You’ve already learned a lot about the Monado, and I’m sure you’ll figure out more as you keep at it!”

Maya let the tension out of her chest. “You’re right. Thanks.”

“Of course!”

The two sat there, feeling the sun’s rays poke through the branches of the tree looming behind them. Out here, just a little ways from the colony proper, everything felt so still. As ifplants, the insects, the very Bionis itself were all frozen in a little bubble, and only the two of them existed. By herself, Maya didn’t notice things like that… but when Eve was around, for whatever reason, she appreciated them all so much more.

Eve rocked her head back to stare at the sky, exhaling happily. “It’s such a lovely day.”

Maya peered up. “It really is.”

“...I hope we can have many more days like it,” said Eve. “All of us.”

The wind rustled through the paper’s in Maya’s hands. “I… I hope so, too.”

Her eyes skimmed over to look at Eve. Her twin pigtails waving in the breeze. Her thin lips ticked up in a gentle smile. Her eyes, the only blue in this world that was brighter than the sky. How often had Maya lost herself looking into that deep azure hue? She’d lost count by now. But the longer she gazed, the more she wanted to know more about the person within, even if she’d known that person for all her life.

Soon, that gentle blue was staring back. “Maya? What is it?”

Maya could feel thoughts swirling around her head again. But these ones weren’t about the Monado or ether or Mechon or the Bionis or anything else in the world… they were all about the person in front of her. She could feel them bubbling in her gut, tightening her chest, stifling her throat. 

For a moment, she considered releasing it all.

“Maya?”

A dragonfly drifted between them.

The sun beamed down.

The wind stood still.

“H-Huhehe, sorry.” Her voice hung low. “I, um, should be getting back to the lab…”

“Are you certain?” asked Eve, her posture growing more rigid. “It sounded like you could use some more rest. Maybe you should take the rest of the day off!”

“N-No, I need to distract myself.” Maya rose to her feet, clumsily dusting herself off and cramming her notes into her knapsack. “I appreciate the food. A-And the company. Thanks.”

“It was my pleasure!” Eve packed up her own things, standing to join her. “Can I walk with you back to the lab, then?”

“Sure!” Maya righted her red jacket and made sure none of her hair was sticking up as she grabbed her junker sword and hoisted it on her back. “Shall we?”

Eve adjusted her belts and double-checked to make sure she had her knives at the ready. “Let’s go!”

They walked off side by side, away from the park overlooking the colony. And as Maya’s hand brushed against Eve’s, she reaffirmed to herself that while these feelings she had were true… she wasn’t ready to say them yet.

So she’d give it time.

She’d get her chance another day.

After all, the future had plenty in store for them.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've played Xenoblade you know what happens next!
> 
> (If you haven't played Xenoblade please do I love it)
> 
> Here's a character list for the AU for those interested:
> 
> Shulk - Maya  
> Fiora - Eve  
> Reyn - Tomoe  
> Sharla - Himari  
> Dunban - Kaoru  
> Melia - Chisato  
> Riki - Hina  
> Dickson - Masuki  
> Alvis - Moca
> 
> Twitter: @DivineNoodles  
> CuriousCat: DivineNoodles


End file.
